Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Happy Halloween!!!!

Great things about Halloween

1. We make pigs-in-a-blanket for supper. LOVE that white trash food!
2. It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!
3. Carving pumpkins - I love it
4. Roasting pumpkin seeds. With lots of butter and salt. Hmmmmmmmmm
5. Giving out HANDFULS of candy
6. Filling our porch with scary stuff, putting up the black light, and starting the creepy sounds CD. Hasn't kept anyone away yet.
7. Acting like a kid, even in my middle age.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

A Great Halloween Scare

Be careful, you've been warned, this is some scary stuff!!

Monday, October 22, 2007

10 Bad Habits

A new list . . .
Bad habits I'm trying to break or at least tone down . .
What are yours??

1. Interrupting people
2. My couch potato status - I'm trying to walk 3 times per week.
3. My addiction to salt and fat
4. My Diet-Pepsi-a-day habit
5. Book buying. I'm like a junkie in book stores - I need to use the public library more often.
6. Letting the kids watch too much TV
7. Sitting here blogging
8. Buying songs on iTunes
9. Taking the bait when my kids want to fight me - breathe, breathe, breathe
10. Not dusting

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Bad Mom, Bad Mom

We love Kathy Griffin, and we especially enjoy this clip. My kids are now quoting this, which probably puts me on the list of bad moms along with Britney Spears and Joan Crawford, but maybe closer to the bottom. Don't you think her eyeshadow looks a little Spock-wearing-a-red-wig?? Love her anyway.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Our Quest for the Perfect Italian Restaurant



My husband and I are on a quest and need the help of all fellow Minnesotans. We are searching for the perfect little Italian restaurant. He wants traditional southern Italian fare: garlic-y marinara sauce, thin crust pizza, etc.
Tonight we traveled to southern Minneapolis, on recommendation of another Italian, and ate at Fat Lorenzo's. On the surface it had all the qualities of a winner and we got all shivery and excited, but it was underwhelming at best. My ho hum 10" pizza cost $24!! And it was just veggies!! For that price we almost made off with the large can of tomato sauce used to prop up my pan.
We're not interested in the upscale joints. We used to LOVE Buon Giorno Italian deli in St. Paul until they moved to Lilydale and went all yuppie and Williams Sonoma on us. We've also tried Cossetta's, Campiello, D'Amicos and of course God Help Us Buca de Beppo. Cossetta's is the current front runner due only to the group of old Italian men constantly occupying the back table.
Any suggestions??

Thursday, October 18, 2007

EDITED Lame Things Challange

My mistake - they were supposed to be lame things I'm PROUD OF.

1. I like barbershop quartets.
2. I know lots of good old gospel hymns by heart
3. Every year after the Oscars I buy People Magazine and read their critique of the gowns, hair, etc.
4. I dance to the music at Old Navy
5. I really, really love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with an added can of tuna.

The Five Lame Things Challenge

I've been challenged by fellow blogger MG to list five lame things about myself. Hmmmmmmm . . . . I'm thinking, I'm thinking . . . .

1. When I was younger and had the house to myself, I would put on LP's of Music Man or Jesus Christ Superstar and "put on" the whole show, playing all the characters. Kirelimel - I know all the words too.

2. I sleep in whenever I get the chance, and I mean until 10am.

3. Sometimes I spend an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom just to escape my kids.

4. I always wanted a serene, adult, elegant bedroom. But my bedside table is littered with white trash items like coupons, bookmarks, bottles of Tylenol, hand lotion, books, kids books, dust, fingernail clippers, etc.

5. I can't go anywhere without spilling something on my shirt fronts.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Hannah Montana and TicketMaster can bite me!

Anyone who has a 8 to 14 year old girl within range knows about the big Hannah Montana concert coming up at Target Center in Mpls. This girl is huge, and I mean Beatles-type huge among my daughters. So why can they bite me?? They sold out their concert within SECONDS to out-of-state scalpers. Now the only tickets available are selling for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. I also hate the parents who will pay that price and keep this insane business going.
Can't the Target Center open up sales for actual Minnesota residents first?? So perhaps parents like me could buy $45 tickets and be a hero to our kids? Is there no common sense or fairness left in the world??
I for one refuse to take my kids to a concert for which I paid a boat load of money. If anyone's going someplace for a boat load of money it'll be my husband and I , the people who actually earned it.

At least I'm not as fat as Jabba the Hut




So I've lost about 16lbs so far on my 50lb journey to health. Oh who am I kidding - it's not so much about health as it is about buying some of those cute clothes in the J.Jill catalog!! Health is nice, you bethca. But those large, off center belts with the gorgeous loopy sterling silver buckles are the TRUE goal. The extreme-ness of my rear end is falling into a more reasonable range meaning my coats and sweaters don't hitch up on it anymore. And my boobs finally enter a room BEFORE my belly.
I'm learning to love low-fat microwave popcorn and eschew pepperoni pizza. My blogging friend MG is also walking this path and I wish him well.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

That's just going TOO FAR!!

The FDA said Friday it would look into claims from an advocacy group that certain lipsticks contain potentially dangerous levels of lead.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said that a third of the 33 red lipsticks examined by an independent lab contained a level of lead exceeding 0.1 parts per million which is the FDA's limit for lead in candy. The FDA does not set a limit for lead in lipstick.


OK, I don't eat meat from Sam's Club or Banquet Chicken Pot Pies, but give up my lipstick?? To quote Charleton Heston from the National Rifle Association "you can have it when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!". Who ever thought I'd agree with Mr. Right-Wing-Nut-Job on anything??

Thursday, October 11, 2007

See?!?!? See?!?!!?



ConAgra Foods Inc. recalled all its Banquet pot pies and store brand varieties Thursday after the products were linked to nationwide salmonella outbreak.

Like I said below . . .

Cargill or ConAgra don't equal good food!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

VOTE FOR AL!!!







That's me, on the left, next to AL FRANKEN! He came to speak in Northfield tonight. What a thrill. This man REALLY understands the issues. That's my cousin Sarah on the right. Poor thing lives in Iowa and can't VOTE FOR AL!!

One good mood, coming up!



Yet another great video from youtube. That's what happens when you play on the computer instead of going to bed like a responsible adult.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Do we really have to be told?


The Minnesota Department of Health says four children became ill from E. coli bacteria last month after eating ground beef patties purchased at three Sam's Club stores in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Sam's Club says the patties were produced by Cargill beginning August 26th and had an expiration date of February 12th, 2008.

Note to Americans - Don't buy meat at Sam's Club, especially meat produced by CARGILL!

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

OK, so maybe my kids aren't SO bad



A 14-year-old St. Paul girl, charged Wednesday for allegedly bringing crystal methamphetamine to her middle school, pleaded guilty to second-degree sale of a controlled substance, a felony. Seven students at Hazel Park Middle School Academy, including the girl, were taken to hospitals after they ingested the crystal meth. The girl was arrested and a search of her home turned up about two grams of the drug, authorities said.

Kind of puts a new spin on my angst over my kids this past weekend. At least I'm not THAT girl's mother.